Leverkusen, West Ham need results to progress in Europa League

A stoppage-time Patrik Schick equaliser spared Leverkusen's blushes last week in Baku, and also maintained their unbeaten record this season, afterQarabag took a shock 2-0 lead against the runaway Bundesliga leaders.

"Maybe it's true that the result is more fortunate for us than for Qarabag. Great respect, they perhaps deserved a better result," said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso after the first leg.

Despite the surprise 2-2 draw, Leverkusen showed no sign of slowing down in their pursuit of silverware at the weekend as they immediately bounced back with a home win against Wolfsburg in the league.

The form team in Europe now boast a record of 31 wins and five draws across all competitions this season, making them the first Bundesliga side to go without defeat in 36 consecutive matches.

As the search for Leverkusen's first silverware in over 30 years reaches the business end of the season, Alonso and his charges will not want this momentum to stop abruptly at match 37 against the Azerbaijani champions.

However, after going toe-to-toe with the Germans for 91 minutes last week, Qarabag will arrive at the BayArena believing that anything is possible. Alonso said the Baku club "have quality players who are capable of playing in the top leagues" and they will be keen to continue to showcase their talents on the European stage.

Qarabag coach Gurban Gurbanov is confident his team can step up and perform at an even higher level than in the first leg: "I'll prepare the team to play even better in Germany."

Leverkusen's fellow tournament favourites Liverpool will likely have an easier ride on Thursday at Anfield after dispatching opponents Sparta Prague 5-1 last week.

Liverpool were boosted by the return of Mohamed Salah in the first leg